New beginnings are always a great time! I am constantly in awe of the resoluteness one needs for the closing of the door behind to walk slowly but assuredly away from one’s comfort. And then how soon it can be followed by the exhilaration and anticipation of new worlds to be found in the opening of the doors ahead.
This is where I find myself. Wanting… Maybe even needing… to enter a new unexplored world. Yet I still enjoy and find fulfillment and rest in the world in which I presently reside.
Living simultaneously in two worlds… It can’t last forever… But while it does, I will enjoy the ride.
Hunter of lions, and hippos. Elephants had fallen.
Fallen at this great hunter’s feet.
Feet that, from this hunt, were sore and tired
Tired from rattling bush with no luck.
Luck would soon change, assisted by Holt.
Holt Collier, his assistant, took things into his own hands.
Hands soon cornered and tied a kill to a tree.
Tree and bear awaited this famed hunting party.
Party they would, but not for this hunting.
Hunting was viewed as a sport that showed honor.
Honor did not allow the shooting of a tied bear.
Bear, and Teddy, made national news.
News spread like wildfire over noble deed.
Deed was retold time and time again.
Again, Teddy was newsworthy because of his “big stick”.
Notes: Theodore Roosevelt political career was set in motion, and captured in the hearts of many Americans by his statement on foreign policy, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” Political cartoonists rose to fame with their caricatures of ‘Teddy and his big stick’.
When the news heard the story of refusing to kill the tied bear, this too became the talk of the nation. Clifford Berryman, a political cartoonist, heard the story and capitalized on the news sensation with his own personalized cartoon. The cartoon appeared in the Washington Post.
Morris Michtom, a Brooklyn candy shop owner, saw the cartoon. Morris Michtom and his wife Rose were not only owners of a candy shop in Brooklyn, New York. As a sideline, they also sewed stuffed animals to sell. They decided to make a stuffed “teddy” bear.
And as they say…. The rest is history.
Photograph is Clifford Berryman’s 1902 cartoon for the Washington Post. Image via Wikipedia.
Written for FanStory and P.A.D. Poem-a-Day. FanStory: Loop Poetry requires that the last word of each line becomes the first word of the next line. So the last word of line 1 becomes the first word of line 2, last word of line 2 becomes the first word of line 3 – and so on. P.A.D. Poem-a-Day: Writer’sDigest … Day 5: For today’s prompt, write a moment poem. The moment could be this very moment in time. Or pick a moment from your past and dive into it. It could be a huge moment or event in your life (or the life of another). Or you could share a small, private moment–like a walk at night or solitary adventure.
If you have enjoyed the previous Atlee Pine stories, this one is a gripper!!
Atlee Pine (an FBI Agent stationed in Arizona) returns to her childhood hometown in search of the kidnapper of her twin sister, Mercy. The kidnapping was thirty years ago- so it is definitely a cold case.
Agent Atlee interviews all the former members of the community, one at a time, but she senses that they are holding back. Each of them seem to have secrets about the night of the kidnapping that they don’t want revealed.
When in her hometown, a serial killer strikes. Are the killings instigated because of the questions being asked by Agent Atlee?
While stumbling through Google the other day, I fell upon these videos.
I am NOT a connoisseur-type chef. My specialties are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Deli meats, and microwavables.
I do have a crock pot, and I have a few recipes that I have been successful at preparing.
The Simplified Saver Cooking Blog looked not only easy to do, but they looked very tasty.
Here’s the catch… I hate eating things when I don’t know ahead of time what they taste like. (Yes, I’m a baby. … I’ve heard it all before. … Water off a duck’s back.)
If, during quarantine, any one you have the ingredients available, and are so inclined, to test out a few of these delicious-looking treats, drop me a line.
I don’t think that I will attempt any of them until after quarantine.
New foods to me, stressful you see. (You thought I was a baby. … Really, I’m like a wise, but ever-compassionate Yoda.)
FYI: I’ll probably drop one of these each week, just seeking a helpful connoisseur.)
To enjoy star-gazing, you need to know what you are actually looking at.
If not, you get an assortment of statements like: “Oh, what a clear and beautiful night,” … “Have you ever seen so many stars in the sky.” … “Look at the pretty blue one. Are you sure that it’s a star?”
The easiest way to know what you are looking at is to master the use of a planisphere.
The planisphere will tell you what stars are in the sky on any given night.
The following video will explain how to use one.
It’s not difficult.
FYI: If you don’t know which direction North happens to be, you will want to invest in a compass as well.
Another video will help even further …
As go go out at night, a video with a few more helpful hints ….
I waddled and wiggled. With great effort I got there.
I groaned and I giggled and my nostrils did flare.
I knew in that instant, great wishes t’would be granted.
“More money. More money. More money.” I chanted.
I carefully lowered myself from the ladder.
I spritzed, and I polished. I was like a mad hatter.
“More money,” I’d wish for. I thought with a gleam
Then I thought of my husband, fore we were a team.
But Honey knew nothing of this glorious lamp.
“What he don’t know can’t hurt him.” I am such a scamp.
I caressed and I rubbed. My body did shudder.
The room was aglow. I felt my heart flutter.
And up from the lamp, the required apparition.
My husband was floating. The genie rendition.
“What were you thinking, not telling of this.
You’re dishonest. Deceitful. You treacherous hiss.
We had all we wanted. A marriage of bliss.
But I guess I was wrong, for my heart you have spurned.
The wish I will grant you. The wish you have earned.
Then all of a sudden the lamp disappeared.
And so did my husband. From the world I was sheared.
Afloat and abandoned, in mountains of cash.
With nowhere to go. My monies were trash.
Written for FanStory Contest: Rhyming Poem– Write a poem of any type. But there must be a rhyme scheme. How it rhymes is up to you. and The P.A.D. (Poem-A-Day) Challenge: Writer’s Digest. For today’s prompt, write a wish poem. The poem could be about making a wish or granting a wish. It could focus on the fallout from a wish granted or denied. Or think up a wishful scene to share in your poem.
The process of photography is the process of capturing light.
The camera controls how much light is captured in three different ways:
Use of the aperture
Use of the ISO
Use of the shutter speed
Filters and Flashes (can be added to your camera to increase or reduce the amount of light available at the time.)
If you are just beginning as a photographer, your camera likely has an automatic setting that will control your light conditions for you and allow your camera to take the best picture possible at that given moment.
But once you have become more experienced, you might want to begin controlling many of the photo optic conditions yourself.
THE APERTURE
The aperture affects the depth of the field that your photograph will have available.
A shallow depth … means that the subject focused on in the foreground will be clear, but the background will become blurred.
A deep depth … means that the subject focused on in the foreground- as well as the remainder of the content of your picture- will be photographed as clearly as possible with your camera.
For the blurred effect – use a larger aperture.
For a clear (I want to see everything) effect – use a smaller aperture.
THE F-STOP
Apertures work through a system of numbers called f-stops. The f-stop is a fractional equivalent to tell you how much light is being allowed into the iris of your camera’s lense.
f/1.4 – this is a very large hole for light, thus giving you a very bright picture.
f/22 – this is a very small hole for light, thus giving you a much darker picture.
I suspect the following video will help clarify things for you.
Written for Photography and On-Line Tours for Learning.
January 1917, saw a group of women protesting in front of the White House lawn. This was a strange happening in and of itself, but what made it even more unusual… The women did not speak!
They had had enough of the talk. They wanted to convince President Woodrow Wilson to verbally support the woman’s right to vote.
President Wilson said in his campaign that he was for a women’s right to vote, but that the new law needed to be passed in a state-by-state manner. The women wanted the privilege NOW. They wanted President Wilson to support a Constitutional amendment!
The protesters stood outside the White House for weeks on end. President Wilson tried to talk with them. He even sent them water and foods, but they did want more conversation. They were now silent! They wanted action!
For almost two years the women picketed the White House.
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Toleration was the key to handling the situation by the Washington D.C. police at first. But soon the women were arrested for blocking the streets, even though all they were doing was standing in a row in front of the White House.
Many were arrested and jailed. The judge was trying to get them to accept bail instead of jail, but the women wanted to make a bold statement.
In jail, they went on a hunger strike. The jail would not allow this so they were force-fed.
One night, November 14, 1917 … The Night of Terror … the women who had been arrested and sentenced to serve time at Occoquan Workhouse, were tortured and beaten badly. The guards were ordered to do this.
Newspapers across the States carried the story.
On January 9, 1918, Wilson was forced to announced his support for the women’s suffrage amendment.
Even then, it took several tries to get the amendment passed. While the bill was being held up in Congress, the women’s movement continued to protest; burning signs and effigies of President Wilson.
Written for The Woodrow Wilson Birthplace Tours and On-Line Tours.
